I'm retired. :)
- Thread starter Phelonious Ponk
- Start date
I've always loved working and have worked very hard throughout my life. Lately however I'm not enjoying it, but I must persevere as there is no way I can retire. I'm really tired to be honest and having to constantly live day by day is taking its toll. I'm on STD at the moment because the stress of it all is unbearable.
Sorry...needed to vent.
Sorry...needed to vent.
Three years and counting.
The good news is I still enjoy what I do.
The only bad (?) news is that I will have to move. Can't afford to live here without my job.
GG
The good news is I still enjoy what I do.
The only bad (?) news is that I will have to move. Can't afford to live here without my job.
GG
Sorry to hear that, Johnny. I'm pretty lucky, I suppose. My consultancy imploded after the crash. I sold audio for a couple of years, which taught us how little we could get by on. That's a very good lesson to learn. Then I landed a last job in my field. Just a job, quite a few notches below my peak, but it served me well for a couple of years, until the politics started to turn bad. I'll now take the lessons in simplicity learned in my years of underemployment, and the fact that everything is paid off, and move into a simple, hopefully very busy retirement that I expect to really enjoy. I don't need a vacation home, or a European vacation. I just need the freedom to live on less and play music full time. I hope you find a better situation soon.
Tim
Will this move have any impact on your historic "tone / mantra" and how you communicate on this site?
Tim,
I get it. You know a famous Nobel Prize winner in Psychological Econometric Studies basically boiled down "Economic Happiness = Economic Reality/Expectations". I read the shortened version of their work as the mathematical derivations were above my head at this point, but, the bottom line equation stands. The silver lining in the financial meltdown was coming to grips with the one's economic realities and being able to change one's expectations accordingly. While I was fortunate to sell out of my commercial real estate holdings and business just before the meltdown, I was not so fortunate to personally avoid the effects of the meltdown.
However, the good news is that I was retired for about 4 months after selling out, the realization of what was happening financially as well as driving not just myself crazy but my wife (and three dogs as well) was enough to get me back into the workplace.
My attitude is definitely different towards the meaning of "retirement" in terms of what meaning it has to me, how I will choose to live my life going forward and the lessons I have learned over the last 7 years.
The financial meltdown was a shock and a pretty good meltdown for my retirement/portfolio, too. Worked/saved another couple of years and then pulled the ripcord. I just didn't want to do it any more.
Going on over two a half years of retirement, and my net worth has increased over 20 percent in spite of spending. Think I'll go do some stand up paddle surfing now and annoy the youngsters.
I like retirement, but after three years of vacation, i will probably do something I like for two days a week or so, to be determined later. My wife and I for some reason are not inclined to travel much, and the unused travel set aside has expanded to 100K, don't know when we will use it, we both kind of like just going back and forth between Pleasanton and Santa Cruz and doing the biking/surfing/walking etc.
Going on over two a half years of retirement, and my net worth has increased over 20 percent in spite of spending. Think I'll go do some stand up paddle surfing now and annoy the youngsters.
I like retirement, but after three years of vacation, i will probably do something I like for two days a week or so, to be determined later. My wife and I for some reason are not inclined to travel much, and the unused travel set aside has expanded to 100K, don't know when we will use it, we both kind of like just going back and forth between Pleasanton and Santa Cruz and doing the biking/surfing/walking etc.
I've been giving serious thought to stepping down to Part-Time. The financial hit will require some adjustment, but my mental well-being is more important. I need time for myself now.
sounds a little like how i started the process of prioritizing to make it work for me. if you can swing it, part-time or however you decide to scale back, i can highly recommend it.
I've asked our personal department to look into a 25-hr workweek for me and what that will net. I have everything I need, and I can cut back on things if need be.
Lots of people here that are considering retirement or nearing retirement. Me too! There are some real choices to be made in my investments as I move from a new saver to a net spender, especially since I don't have a pension to fall back on, only investment income until social security kicks in. Now my portfolio should be plenty to live on, given my current expected costs and a reasonable rate of return. But still ...
What are your thoughts on Long Term Care insurance? is it worth it, or is it just another expense, or is it really an estate planning tool?
What are your thoughts on converting my whole life policy into an annuity (and maybe adding to it actually)? Almost sounds too good to be true (5% annual compound guaranteed, daily re-valuation floor, death benefit)?
What are your thoughts on Long Term Care insurance? is it worth it, or is it just another expense, or is it really an estate planning tool?
What are your thoughts on converting my whole life policy into an annuity (and maybe adding to it actually)? Almost sounds too good to be true (5% annual compound guaranteed, daily re-valuation floor, death benefit)?
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Long-term care insurance is not an estate planning tool, it's insurance. Which is to say it is a payment against a calculated risk. My father, who will turn 97 in November, just moved from hospital to rehab. Medicare covers rehab up to 100 days, as long as he is progressing. In his case, from there he'll probably transition back to his managed care facility, at their highest level of care (about $85 a day), plus hospice (Medicare covers), which is manageable for us. If he needed a bed in a full-time nursing facility long-term, in this market that's about $200 a day. Less manageable. But when you think about it, a year at that rate is what? About $75K?
I don't know what the premiums are on long-term care insurance, but unless I was at high risk for Parkinsons or something like that, I might seriously consider self-insuring for that one.
Whole life to an annuity? It depends on what your ratio of market investment to "cash" looks like now. Dad has been in very conservative income funds for years, while I've been (pretty conservatively) trying to make money. He's actually made more than I have.
Tim
I suggest you meet with a financial advisor who sell long term care products. There are more options than just paying X amount per month for X amount of daily/monthly coverage with no death benefits.
There maybe an option to convert your whole life policy into a life insurance policy with a long term care rider.
So yes, LTC is an estate planning tool.
To each his own, I suppose. I've always looked at the performance of complex insurance vehicles like whole life and seen a pretty poor investment. So I've invested elsewhere and bought insurance for, well, insurance. YMMV, of course.
Tim
The problem with getting LT care insurance is that, if you have a disease that is highly likely to need it, you won't qualify to get it by the insurance company. If you have a history of heart attack or stroke, where you are more likely to die suddenly sometime int eh future, makes you a highly desirable candidate for LT Care insurance, because you might never use it.
If you do the math ... take the annual premiums then compound them by a reasonable rate of return in the market, in 30 years you will have essentially what LT care promises you (as a cap). So if you have a long living family history it really doesn't make sense unless you need to use it before those 30 years go by. But then, it is only good for about 2-3 years of coverage then it runs out (on average). If you contract Alzeheimers you could need care for a lot longer than that.
All in all, I'm not sure it is worth it either. I'd rather save and invest, then use what I have when I need it. Not worried about an estate to leave to my kids so much. More worried about ending up in a S#!T Hole for care, but then again I will probably be so far gone that I may not care at all.
If you do the math ... take the annual premiums then compound them by a reasonable rate of return in the market, in 30 years you will have essentially what LT care promises you (as a cap). So if you have a long living family history it really doesn't make sense unless you need to use it before those 30 years go by. But then, it is only good for about 2-3 years of coverage then it runs out (on average). If you contract Alzeheimers you could need care for a lot longer than that.
All in all, I'm not sure it is worth it either. I'd rather save and invest, then use what I have when I need it. Not worried about an estate to leave to my kids so much. More worried about ending up in a S#!T Hole for care, but then again I will probably be so far gone that I may not care at all.
Just got word back from our personnel department and it looks like it's very doable. Fairly significant cut in tax rate, so I may bump up my RRSP(401K for you guys) and other pension contributions. The next step will be to talk to the office and work out a schedule that's acceptable for both of us. Wish me luck!
That works if you are 30 or 40 but not when you are north of 60.
It is indeed a total waste of money if I don't need it but should I have a disabling stroke, Alzheimer's, or equivalent, I then don't need to worry about wiping out my investments and putting my wife out to live a sub standard life.
VERY expensive but for now, we have chosen to buy it!!!
Yes Steve you are right keep your mind occupied i am going on my fifth year and the first four have been the best years of my life my mind is occupied by ANYTHING that as to do with MUSIC because music is good for the soul.
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